When viewers turn on Tuesday’s presidential debate, they may recognize David Muir, who hosts the most-watched news program in television, ABC’s “World News Tonight.” But they may be less familiar with his co-moderator Linsey Davis, who has risen through the network’s ranks over the past 17 years and now gets the biggest test — and opportunity — of her career: facilitating a conversation between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump that could determine who wins the 2024 race.
By Jeremy Barr
Those who have worked with Davis throughout her career think she’s up for the challenge.
“Her steadiness, her unflappability, makes her really perfect for this,” said ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz, who moderated general election debates in 2012 and 2016. “She is going to be on a very big stage, and I know she’s comfortable with that because she has done and is doing her homework.”
Raddatz, who has known Davis since they covered the 2010 earthquake in Haiti together, said she has spoken with her about debate strategy but would not divulge any details.
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Davis, 46, is the host of ABC’s nightly streaming news broadcast, “ABC News Live Prime,” and the Sunday edition of the network’s flagship “World News Tonight.” While she moderated two 2020 Democratic primary debates, neither held the same national significance as a general election showdown — and neither included a participant who has shown a history of lashing out at moderators in the way Trump has. The former president has already telegraphed his frustration with the network, which he has called “the worst,” and he recently sparred with Davis’s colleague, Rachel Scott, at a forum hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists. (ABC did not make Davis available for an interview.)
Seni Tienabeso has worked with Davis since 2007 and in 2020 partnered with her to launch the streaming evening news show. He has also served as a member of her debate prep team.
“From the moment she heard [that she would co-moderate the debate], she has been voraciously ingesting any and all information about the candidates,” said Tienabeso, who oversees the network’s streaming channel.
With such a large viewing audience — 51.3 million viewers watched the first debate in June — co-moderating a presidential showdown can be a breakout moment for a news anchor. But “she’s not thinking about it from the exposure part,” Tienabeso said. “She’s thinking about it from the capital-J Journalism part. … I’m excited that the country will get to see how purposeful she is with how she presents news and information and how diligent and serious a journalist she is.”
Raddatz said that ABC’s moderators “are there to ask questions that will help inform the public,” rather than making themselves the center of the event. That’s the same approach CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash took in June, when they focused more on facilitating a conversation between Trump and President Joe Biden than inserting themselves to correct falsehoods, an approach that was not uniformly popular.
On a personal level, Tienabeso said that Davis is uproariously funny, is kind to everyone she comes across and is very committed to her faith. She has also found time to author six children’s books.
Davis got her start as a reporter for ABC’s local television station in Flint, Mich., in 2001. From there, she joined WTHR-TV in Indianapolis in 2003 and became a weekend news anchor. That’s where John Krull, the director of the journalism school at Franklin College in Indiana, first met and was wowed by Davis.
A few months ago, Krull had dinner with Davis when he was visiting New York City. When he suggested that she write a book based on a recent piece she did about learning her ancestral roots, she replied, “Why would anyone care about me that way? Why would anyone be that interested in my life?”
“She's kind of a rare quality in our business that she's not determined to show she's the brightest person in the room all the time, even though she generally is,” he said. “In a television world populated with massive egos, she doesn't have one.”
Krull will be watching excitedly — and probably nervously — on Tuesday night.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for her. It is a tremendous responsibility,” he said. But he’s worried about how the former president might treat her, considering his past verbal attacks on other Black female journalists, including Scott in July. “Certainly, given the track record, it’s higher risk for Linsey than it is for her male colleague.”
Either way, the debate is sure to boost Davis’s national profile. “I truly believe Linsey is a star at ABC because she’s a terrific journalist and she’s a terrific broadcaster,” said Raddatz. “Thankfully, she is going to be with us for a very long time.”
